1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to vehicle travel assistance apparatuses and vehicle travel assistance methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known vehicle travel assistance apparatus controls a vehicle so as to travel while following a forward vehicle. If stationary objects are included among candidate objects to be followed, such a vehicle travel assistance apparatus has difficulty in distinguishing between roadside objects, such as guardrails and fences, and a forward vehicle that is stationary because of traffic congestion or waiting for a traffic light to change, and thus has a problem of performing vehicle travel assistance. In contrast, if stationary objects are excluded from the candidate objects to be followed, such a vehicle travel assistance apparatus also excludes a forward vehicle that is stationary, which is a stationary object, from the selection as the object to be followed and it is thus difficult to stop the vehicle when the forward vehicle is stationary.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-7062 discloses a travel assistance apparatus that, when the distance between a stationary object and the vehicle is equal to or shorter than a threshold, the lateral displacement between the stationary object and the vehicle is equal to or less than a threshold, and the probability that the stationary object is in the lane of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a threshold, selects an object to be followed from such stationary objects.